Copilot now has a shelf for MCP servers, and that is the interesting part

The Customize tab in the GitHub Copilot app left preview on August 25. It gathers four things that used to be configured separately — MCP servers, plugins, skills and canvases — into a single surface where they can be browsed by type, by category, or from a featured list.

What is actually in it

GitHub describes the tab as a starting point for someone who does not already know which MCP server, plugin, skill or canvas they need. There is a Featured view that pulls selected items from each type, dedicated sections per type, and for MCP servers specifically, trending options and browsing by category.

The canvases are the least familiar of the four. GitHub's own example is delegating backlog work from Azure DevOps: triage issues, prioritize the backlog, assign follow-ups, and hand a piece of work to Copilot to investigate or implement while the relevant context stays visible.

Why a tab is a bigger change than it sounds

Until now, connecting an assistant to a tool meant editing a configuration file with a command, arguments and a token. That is a step only a developer takes, and only for tools they already know exist. A browsable list with trending entries changes who installs connectors and how they choose them — discovery moves from documentation to a shelf.

It also changes what an installed connector means. A server picked from a featured list is still a program that runs with your credentials against your data. Nothing in a catalogue asserts that a third-party server does only what its description says, and the trust decision that used to live in a config file now sits behind one click.